


A fateful letter

by Hatsoff_forgandalf



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Emotional Hurt, F/F, Gen, Sad, fuck gregor clegane I hate him, i'm not quite sure what this is, idk her, the major character death warning is just for elia rhaenys and aegon, there is one mention of the cannonical rape of elia, what is the canon timeline?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23489845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hatsoff_forgandalf/pseuds/Hatsoff_forgandalf
Summary: Eddard Stark has news and he knows how Ashara will take it
Relationships: Ashara Dayne/Brandon Stark, Ashara Dayne/Elia Martell, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Robert Baratheon/Ned Stark
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	A fateful letter

Eddard Stark strode down the hall, dreading his arrival at the top of the tower, but his fear that the news would reach Ashara some other way compelled him to all but run up the stairs.   
He had remembered her from long ago, a tourney, a tourney that caused what seemed to be all the misfortune in the world. Her purple eyes had sparkled with joy as she danced. Her beauty shone, from her body, from her smile, from her soul. He remembered her playful dance with him, back before they truly knew each other. He remembered, oh he remembered how she loved the Princess, Elia Martell, the sickly but lovely, kind Princess, and how he clutched, in his hand, the tale of how Elia died.   
And then he was there, he knocked hesitantly on the door.  
“Enter,” she said.  
The words could not leave his throat when he looked upon Ashara. She leaned upon the window sill staring out into the sky. She turned to face him slowly and how he wished to lie, for how could he tell her. How, when he knew every word that left his lips was another dagger in the heart of this woman, who had lost too much already.  
“Ned,” her voice was hoarse and her eyes were red, but she attempted to smile out of what he was sure was courtesy. “I trust you are well”  
“My Lady-” the rest of Eddard’s words caught in his throat. So he instead stepped forward and held out the parchment with his tremoring hand.  
Ashara’s eyes filled with dread, as she took the accursed message, and they then filled with a potent mix of rage and despair as she read.  
“Aegon was a babe,” she whispered, her tone cold and hard. “Rhaenys too. They were children. They were Elia’s children.”  
Tears began to pool in her eyes.  
“And Elia,” her voice grew louder “Elia never, she never, did anything to deserve this. This was Baratheon’s fault or Lannister’s are they not the same?”  
Eddard could not help but wince at the name Baratheon was spoken along with that of Lannister, Robert was not Tywin nor was he Jaime, the oathbreaker who slew his king.  
Ashara paid his reaction no mind and continued.  
“She could have lived, the children could have lived, why must they pay for the actions of the Silver Prince and the Mad King? My Elia, raped and murdered in cold blood. And to whom can I turn to for justice, The King? The Gods? You?” Ashara laughed for the first time since she’d lost her daughter, but there was no joy behind it.   
“You, Ned, you who are as blinded by your love for Robert, as Rhaegar was by his lust for Lyanna? No, you could not help me. She was kind, Ned, she was good, I’ll never make her smile again. I’ll never hold her again, I’ll never- She’ll never- I can’t even see her one more time. My Elia is gone.”  
Eddard did not speak, he met her eyes and was filled with shame. He had known what she would say, he had known Ashara would blame him in some way. The loss of Brandon, the loss of their child, Eddard was a living reminder of both and Arthur, Ashara loved her brother, no matter what she told herself, and Eddard was responsible for his death. Ned was all of Ashara’s greatest losses. He wished her claims could have been insane, invalid, misinformed, or just a result of her grief but she was right. He could not, despite the sense in his mind screaming that Robert wanted these children dead, believe it.  
“She was kind, Ned, she was good, I’ll never make her smile again. I’ll never hold her again, I’ll never- She’ll never- I can’t even see her one more time. My Elia is gone.”  
“I am sorry” Eddard whispered.  
Silence hung heavy in the air as tears rolled down her face.  
“Ashara... “  
“Please, don’t… not now.”  
They stood together quietly, except for Ashara’s muffled sobs

**Author's Note:**

> To be completely honest I do not know what I am doing, but I wrote this and I hope you enjoyed it, or that it made you sad, writing angst feels weird...


End file.
